Saving Seafood

10 fish stocks added to NOAA’s overfishing list in US

April 22, 2016 — Three stocks of Chinook salmon, one of Coho salmon and two flounder stocks have been added to the overfishing list produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the organization that regulates U.S. fishing reported in its 2015 Report to Congress on the Status of U.S. Fisheries.

Still, the number of fish stocks in U.S. waters subject to overfishing is near an all-time low, according to Alan Risenhoover, director of NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Sustainable Fisheries.

“The partnerships forged over past 40 years under the Magnuson-Stevens Act have resulted in the number of overfished stocks remaining near all-time lows and additional stocks are rebuilding,” Risenhoover said. “Through its stakeholder-driven process, the U.S. will continue to be a global leader in managing its stocks sustainably.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

U.S. fisheries continue to rebuild; number of overfished stocks remains near all-time low

April 22, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

Total number of rebuilt U.S. marine fish stocks since 2000 rises to 39

The number of domestic fish stocks listed as overfished or subject to overfishing remain near all-time lows, according to the 2015 Status of U.S. Fisheries report to Congress.

The 2015 report highlights the United States’ continued progress towards managing fish stocks sustainably. This is a result of the combined efforts of NOAA Fisheries, commercial and recreational fishermen, the regional fishery management councils, states, and other partners.

“It’s fitting that this report aligns with the 40th anniversary of the Magnuson-Stevens Act,” said Eileen Sobeck, assistant NOAA administrator for fisheries. “Magnuson-Stevens provided the dynamic, science-based management process that is proving successful year after year at keeping U.S. fisheries among the world’s most sustainable and resilient. This year’s report highlights the act’s continued success.”

In 2015, eight stocks came off the overfishing list:

  • greater amberjack in the Gulf of Mexico
  • gray triggerfish in the Gulf of Mexico;
  • hogfish in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico;
  • thorny skate in the Gulf of Maine;
  • winter skate in Georges Bank/Southern New England;
  • windowpane flounder in the Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank;
  • Puerto Rico scups and porgies complex (similar species that occur in the same area)
  • Puerto Rico wrasses complex.

In addition, two stocks are no longer listed as overfished—blueline tilefish in the South Atlantic and canary rockfish along the Pacific Coast.

A stock is on the overfishing list when the annual catch rate is too high. A stock is on the overfished listwhen the population size of a stock is too low, whether because of fishing or other causes, such as environmental changes.

The report also found that two fish stocks—canary rockfish and petrale sole, both on the Pacific Coast—were rebuilt to target levels in 2015. That brings the total number of rebuilt U.S. marine fish stocks to 39 since 2000.

“This rebuilding success demonstrates the importance of the scientific monitoring and responsive management approach Congress built in to the Magnuson-Stevens Act,” said Sobeck. “It also shows that managing fisheries to sustainable levels in an ever-changing environment is an ongoing process of science informing management.”

See the release at NOAA

 

 

Populations of salmon, flounder added to overfishing list

April 21, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — The federal government has added several populations of economically important food fish, including stocks of salmon and flounder, to its list of fish stocks that are being subjected to overfishing.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday that three regional populations of Chinook salmon and one regional population each of Coho salmon, summer flounder, yellowtail flounder and winter flounder are suffering from overfishing.

NOAA produces an annual update of its list of fish that are either subject to overfishing or have been overfished to the point where populations are too low. The report informs conservation and management efforts.

Overall, the number of fish on the “overfishing” list climbed from 26 to 28, and the number on the “overfished” list rose from 37 to 38.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Will Sea Bass Quota Go Up or Down?

April 7, 2016 — Last year, sea bass literally put some commercial fishermen in the black.

The black fish with the delicious pure white meat abundantly filled local waters and made up some financial losses for fishermen curtailed by otherwise stringent regulations on striped bass, cod, flounder and other lucrative species.

But that might change soon.

In a memo dated March 18 from the Division of Marine Fisheries in Boston, while regulations for striped bass, bluefish, fluke and scup will likely remain unchanged this year in Massachusetts, “Regulations for black sea bass have been amended to achieve a mandatory 23 percent harvest reduction.”

The Massachusetts regulatory agency says these revisions are being implemented along the entire Atlantic seaboard via “emergency rulemaking” to take effect prior to the onset of the 2016 season. Public hearings will be held to discuss proposals before changes are finalized.

Read the full story at Newport This Week

From necessity, delicious seafood invention

April 5, 2016 — Because restaurants sell 70 percent of the seafood consumed in the United States, chefs are hugely influential in creating market trends, so Latitude 43’s chef Ryder Ritchie wants you to know there’s nothing fishy about dogfish. Or, for that matter, monkfish. Or pogies, or skate, or pollock, hake, tusk, or even, once you get the hang of them, those ubiquitous little invasive crustaceans, green crabs.

Notice, he doesn’t mention redfish, a species that — armed with their moveable feast of redfish soup — the formidable duo of Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken and Angela DeFillipo have done a dazzling job of marketing at Boston’s Seafood Expo and beyond.

But everything else that might ever have been referred to as “trash fish?”

Look for it on chef Richie’s future forward menus at Latitude 43.

This Wednesday evening — Latitude 43’s third annual sustainable seafood benefit for Maritime Gloucester — Ritchie recommends for starters, Saffron Monkfish Stew in wild mushrooms and basil; Atlantic Razor Clams with lemongrass, house-made chilies and charred bread; followed by an entree of brown-butter-seared local flounder with capers and golden raisins, grilled asparagus, olive-oil-poached fingerling potatoes, sherry foam and pine nuts.

Flounder? Underutilized?

Yes, says Ritchie. Maybe not as underutilized as other species Gloucester natives like himself grew up hearing “bad stuff about,” but certainly never up there with, say, the now highly regulated, venerable cod.

Read the full story at The Gloucester Times

Number of New Hampshire groundfishermen continues to decline

March 30, 2016 — PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — The number of New Hampshire boats fishing for groundfish has continued to decline, with only five full-time groundfisherman left in the state.

Fishermen have been catching haddock, cod and flounder off the coast and selling it in New Hampshire for centuries. But fishermen said that quotas and regulations over the past decade that are meant to protect groundfish have made it almost impossible to make a living.

The regulations have also affected other fishermen. At Tuesday’s regional meeting of the New England Fishery Management Council, some complained they were unable to catch herring to use as bait because they were in the same area as regulated groundfish.

Read the full story at WMUR

PRESS OF ATLANTIC CITY: Uniform flounder rules required throughout Delaware Bay

New Jersey (March 25, 2016) — Fisheries management has been so tough on South Jersey anglers that they’re grateful when they get a little consideration.

That happened earlier this month when the N.J. Marine Fisheries Council decided to allow summer flounder caught in Delaware Bay to be kept if they’re 17 inches, a one-inch reduction in the minimum size. Size matters in this case, with less than an inch often the difference between being able to keep (and eat) a fish and having to release it.

The council acted because Delaware has been allowing people fishing in the same bay to keep flounder just 16 inches. What’s more, Delaware lets people fish any day of the year, while those in New Jersey can only fish from May 21 to Sept. 25.

Read the full column at Press of Atlantic City

Feds Propose Deep Cuts In Cod Quotas

March 28, 2016 — The new fishing year begins in May and federal regulators are seeking public comments for proposed catch limits for the region’s groundfish industry. The proposed regulations, particularly for Georges Bank cod, have southern New England fishermen worried.

The proposed rules include catch quotas for 20 groundfish species, including cod, haddock, and flounder. Jennifer Goebel, public affairs officer for the regional office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said quotas are based on stock assessments.

“This year the stock assessment for the Gulf of Maine cod showed a slight increase and so we were able to make some increases on that,” she said.

But the cod from Georges Bank, a popular fishing spot for Rhode Island fishermen, is severely depleted. Goebel said regulators are proposing a 62 percent cut from what fishermen were able to catch last year.

Read the full story at Rhode Island Public Radio

MASSACHUSETTS: Proposed exemption good for Cape Cod fishermen

CHATHAM, Mass. (March 24, 2016) — When a fisherman is getting just pennies to the pound for fish, paying an additional $710 for someone to ride along and count each one can really cut into the bottom line.

“We couldn’t afford the $700,” said Chatham fisherman Jan Margeson. “It would have put you into a negative day.”

Margeson and other Cape Cod fishermen who pursue relatively low value species like skate and dogfish argue they use nets with such a large mesh that almost all other species simply swim right through and escape.

The observers they are occasionally required to carry are intended to double check the amounts of groundfish, like cod, haddock and flounder they are catching along with dogfish and skates. But Cape fishermen say they don’t catch any of the groundfish and feel the observers, known as “At-Sea Monitors,” are unnecessary and expensive.

Newly proposed regulations released for public comment this week confirm what Cape fishermen have been saying for years, by granting them an exemption to the requirement to carry the monitors on nearly all their fishing trips for skate and dogfish, which became the dominant species landed in Cape ports after the decline of groundfish, especially cod, in recent years.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford fishermen face ‘devastating’ cod cut

March 23, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The city’s commercial fishing industry — battered by last month’s arrest of magnate Carlos Rafael on federal conspiracy charges, last week’s drug raids on the waterfront and ongoing monitoring costs — took another punch to the gut this week, as government regulators proposed new cuts to cod catches that could take effect May 1.

“Those cuts will be devastating to the groundfishing fleet of New Bedford, and the whole New England coast,” said John Haran, manager of groundfish Sector 13.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in conjunction with the New England Fishery Management Council, released a proposed update Monday to the federal management plan for the northeastern fishery.

The proposal includes updated catch quotas and fishing limits for the fishery’s 20 groundfish stocks — including cod, flounder, haddock and more — for the next three years. The 2016 groundfish year starts May 1.

The proposal includes a new, 62-percent reduction from last year in the allowable catch for Georges Bank cod, a key species for the New Bedford fishing industry.

“Our fleet is entirely concentrated on Georges Bank West cod,” Haran said, referring to boats not only in his sector, but also in New Bedford-based sectors 7, 8 and 9.

“We also fish for Georges Bank East cod, but not as much,” said Haran, who is running for Select Board member in Dartmouth.

The proposal allows a total catch limit of 762 metric tons of Georges Bank cod in the 2016 fishing year. The total catch limit for Georges Bank haddock, by comparison, is 56,068 metric tons — an increase of 130 percent from a year ago.

Haran said the problem is that cod is a “choke species,” because once a crew reaches its quota for cod, it can no longer fish for other species, such as haddock, because everything is caught at the same time.

Read the full story at The New Bedford Standard-Times